Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Minister of Labour, precarious employment – Liberation

The Department of Labor is among the most precarious positions of government. According to our ranking compiled from data of the Prime Minister on the most important ministries, the Labour ministers remain in office as 642 days on average, one year and nine months. Martine Aubry is the only Minister of Labour to have held more than three years since the election of Valéry Giscard d’Estaing. It was between 1997 and 2000. And 33 ministers have taken place since the beginning of the V th Republic.

But the successor to François Rebsamen reassures, position the more precarious the V th Republic is that of the Minister of Health. Nearly 40 ministers have succeeded since 1959. The longest in this position was Simone Veil, Minister for almost four years of Valéry Giscard d’Estaing. She will be remembered as the minister who brought the legalization of abortion in France. In contrast, Leon Schwartzenberg lasted only nine days in 1988.

Then come the Ministers of Education. Permeable reforms and manifestations, mandates are short, barely more than a year and a half on average. Three people have already succeeded in this position since the election of Francois Hollande. The record holders are Christian Fouchet, from 1962 to 1967, and François Bayrou, from 1993 to 1997.

Minister for Ecology’s not a very stable position. But the ministry has only existed since 1971 when Robert Poujade was minister delegate responsible for the protection of nature and environment. The average duration of persons in that position is 573 days a year and half. Dominique Voynet, Minister Lionel Jospin from 1997 to 2000 and Jean-Louis Borloo, Minister François Fillon of 2007 to 2010 are the most resistant. Since the election of François Hollande, the position was awarded to four different people, a record!

Justice, Foreign Affairs and Culture are the three departments where the medium-term period exceeds two years. The most enduring are also those whose names have lasting impact on their portfolio, as Robert Badinter or Alain Peyrefitte for Justice, Maurice Couve de Murville, Hubert Védrine for Foreign Affairs or André Malraux and Jack Lang for Culture.